draw knife

[rover brewer]

whats a good draw knife and where can I purchase it.

[sadiejane]

they're readily available at flea markets, swap meets, antique stores, primitive meets, rendezvous

check the cutting edge and make sure it has no dings
other than that.....
have several myself, in different sizes and blade shapes. really like the little 4" ones for fine work. i always buy em if they are $12 or less and its fairly common to find em for $8 or less. much prefer the quality of steel of the old ones than the new ones, unless ya spend the big $. tho i did pick up a new mora(made in sweden-$22) from our local old school hardware store. nice

[eagleone]

definately check out antique shops- around here they go for about 15 bucks.  I like my old ones much better than the brand spankin new one that i figured i "needed"

[SEMO_HUNTER]

I make my own from old lawnmower blades and weld handles on at the angle I want. Mine are more at a 45 deg. angle out and back rather than straight back. That way I can turn it on edge and use it as a big scraper.

[rover brewer]

thanks everyone, looks like I'll be going to the fea markets looks like if I get a buy at 8-25 $$ it will be a good buy, also thanks for the idea on the mower blades Semo_hunter that seems like something I could do, but I think I'll try a bought one so I can tell how I want to make it the 45 deg. angle sounds like a good idea.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

No problem, if you want a pic of the one I made to give you some ideas just let me know.

[CaptainJ]

Originally posted by SEMO_HUNTER:
No problem, if you want a pic of the one I made to give you some ideas just let me know.

Hey yeah, I'd like to see that.
Did you anneal or temper the blade in any way?
Did you change the bevel at all?
Thanks!
CJ

[SEMO_HUNTER]

No need to anneal, the lawnmower blade is already tempered steel and holds a very good edge. As long as you don't get it too hot (Blue or Purple) while grinding your edge, it will hold it's temper. Then just sharpen with a file as needed.

 

Don't pay any attention to the 2 little bolts in the handle on the right. That was a failed attempt at trying to drill and tap the lawnmower blade so the handles could be taken off, it doesn't work so don't waste your time with it. The steel of the lawnmower blade is so hard that my tap snapped off right from the git go. Just set the angle where you want it and tack weld the handle on. See if you like that angle first then weld them solid.
Hope this helps, good luck!

 

[vanillabear?]

[Roy from Pa]

Chris, that is a great idea, thanks.

[Dave Bowers]

I got my draw knife from an online auction site...paid 9 bucks. You just have to do a little snoopin to find a good deal.

[WestTexan]

Made this one from hedge trimmer blade...works real well
 
 

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Ahhhh that's cheatin Texan you got all fancy with yours.     :D  

Good Job guys, that's what we do. Make something out of nothing and that's the spirit of what we do and why we do it. I'd much rather work with tools I made myself than buy them anyday cause frankly I have found very few tools that work exactly the way I want them to. At least if I make them myself I can modify my design until it "feels" right to me. I got lucky and just happened to get my draw knife perfect to feel right to me on my first try.

[Eric Krewson]

Fleabay has tons of good drawknives at reasonable prices.

[rover brewer]

nice work thanks for all the pictures,now I have a lot of ideas in my head.

[CaptainJ]

Ditto rover. Thanks guys!
CJ

[rover brewer]

for those who have been reading this, and want to make one you can get lawn mower blades at a lawn mower repair place and if you don't have a welder but have a grinder you can get two big bolts grind flat one side drill holes and bolt handle on just like the repair that Semo_hunter did see his picture on page one.And if you don't want to get the edge too hot just grind it down to about 1/8" and file the rest.